Recent reviews by Shockal

Get ready for the most insane motion sickness you'll ever receive from playing a video game

You don't have to be a League of Legends fan to enjoy this.

Though this game can be burned through pretty quickly, I am honestly super impressed by this game. The music is catchy and clear, the animations are fantastic, and the stages are all both fun and challenging.

Not to mention it has references to BIT.TRIP, which I am super delighted to see.

If you're into rhythm games, consider getting this.

An old game brought back to life, Primal Carnage: Extinction is definitely among the more unique first person shooters I've tried out. So many different classes are available, both Dinosaur and Human, and it almost feels like TF2 sometimes - in a good way, of course.

Get this game if you like wacky shooters and dinosaurs.

Change is good.
In this case, what do I mean?

Well, ARK: Genesis is truly the most unusual map in ARK. It does a lot of things that ARK maps don't traditionally do.

- You are given the ability to teleport to almost any location on the map
- The map is divided into five different biomes, instead of just being one supermassive biome. You have to teleport to get across biomes, as you are unable to travel across by foot (walled off by map barrier)
- Quests and missions that reward loot
- Loot reward includes in-game points called Hexagons that allow you to unlock various resources (You can also earn Hexagons by checking out interactable objects scattered across the map called Glitches)

These new mechanics are mind-blowing, especially with the new holographic guide HLNA, which comes with thousands of dialogue and cheeky voice acting.
The new creatures, though not as numerous as other DLC maps, are amazing in quality and are absolutely packed with their own countless mechanics and even easter eggs. You can mount them for hours, and suddenly discover something new that you didn't know about. For example, the Bloodstalker can dance to the Thriller if you use a Halloween emote while riding it. It completely took me by surprise.

Some tiny AI aspects got improved too. Creatures in the Lunar biome can actually detect cliffs and won't blindly run off them, and the Boss fight AI are masterfully done.

Additionally, the new biomes feel great. They REALLY bring the danger level to whole new heights, from space radiation to a cave about to erupt and you have 2 minutes to get out before it kills you.

Now I know many people have complained about the map size of Genesis. This is a bit of a personal opinion, but I feel like the map size is quite large enough - just enough to be feel ample and immersed. The ARK community has been demanding larger and larger in-game maps for years, which we already have (Ragnarok, Valguero and soon Crystal Isles), so it's sad to see that the one map that doesn't want to focus on size gets bashed on. After all, it's more of a quest-based map.

And just to clear up some more things that may possibly mislead readers:

- The in-game HLNA Hexagon store has NOTHING to do with real money. You get the credits from winning quests.
- There are tons of good building spots on the map.
- Teleporting to another biome takes 10 seconds at most. You can also choose which part of the biome you can teleport to, so you can teleport safely by choosing a safe destination (and not one infested with carnivores).
- New Genesis Official servers have been released that allow flyers.

And lastly, my negative opinions on Genesis.
- No option to buy Part 1 as a single price (there's been stories of third-party sites selling it for just $10 though)
- Teleporting a large creature with you might end up scrambling your player inside your large creature when teleportation activates, so both you and your dino get stuck in each other. This can be fixed simply with a Cryopod or whistling it away.
- Very rarely, a tamed creature may suddenly disappear. This only happened to me once, but later I found it not too far from where it poofed.
- Also rare, a tamed creature might not teleport with you
- FPS seems a bit worse compared to other maps

Overall, I think the pros outweigh the cons. I adore this map for its unusual direction in gameplay, and I'm curious what Part 2 will be.

The title of this game is way too simple for the amount of colourful content packed into this game.

MONSTER HUNTER: WORLD completely took me away. It wasn't just about hunting monsters.
It was a place to explore - a place to learn. A massive, fictional world complete with gorgeous fictional culture and traditions, alongside ecosystems of dazzling beauty and uniqueness, yet not leaving the bounds of realism. You can cultivate herbs, cook your own meal combos, even freely explore the wilderness for relaxation!

The graphics alongside were surprising - not because they were good, but because how good the framerate was on high graphics. For such a big game, it doesn't take much disk space either! It's only 20 GB, way less than others I've seen. Bugs and glitches were minimal, and I've had zero crashes.

As for combat, the most exciting part of the game, you REALLY get to express yourself. You must choose one weapon out of the total of fourteen available, so there's bound to be a type of hunting tool just for you, whether you're defensive, offensive, ranged, or just like to trap stuff. Furthermore, your choice of weapon still doesn't define you, as armour can be modified to affect how your weapon deals damage. Show off how you want to hunt in your own style! I myself choose a defensive Sword and Shield sleep-and-bomb styled build. It's unlikely you'll get bored from hunts too, given the sheer number of different kinds of monsters in this game that'll get you pumped.

However, all that I've mentioned so far were pros. There are some... concerns... I have with some people who wish to get this game. First off, it's actually really difficult in the later stages. Some monsters are just made outta tough stuff (literally), and I've had moments where I had to constantly whack at them for 20 minutes straight for them to KO, while trying to take as little hits as possible, because some of their attacks can bludgeon you like a bomb.... some of them even use bombs.

However, if you're one for difficulty, go ahead and dive right in.

Secondly was the price. Now, I wouldn't say this game is overpriced - in fact I think the content and patches are worth, but I know not everyone can afford it. So if you're gonna buy this game.. MAKE SURE you're gonna play it.

Overall I believe the pros overweigh the cons, and this game is as unique as it is, so I definitely recommend it.

As far as dino sims go, this one is... decent, I guess. The strengths of this game lie in its diversity of mechanics and abilities, especially in regards to the map's weather system and playable roster. However, the gameplay encourages hyper aggression/killing, so it will be very difficult to maintain your creature's progress in a server full of other players who are bigger than you - not to mention, growth is infinite. As expected, you'll find most of the playerbase occupied on unofficial servers.

Was about to give it a negative review due to the mass swath of glitches, but only some days later they released a major update that cleaned up a lot. There is still a lot of bugs, but, for now, my hopes are high.

The red flag of this game is that it's been in Early Access for more than eleven years. The developer's work is undesirably slow. Large updates do not come frequently. Everything promised in the store page description has not made its way into the game.

Aberration is a great add-on for ARK, but it comes with insane difficulty that threatens newer ARK players, therefore I recommend Aberration to people who have general knowledge of The Island and Scorched Earth. The main reasons for this difficulty are the lack of mobility and difficulty of important resources such as metal. I'll go in depth over each one.

1. Lack of mobility
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Almost every creature that is used to travel The Island and Scorched Earth are completely missing in Aberration. There are no flyers here, nor thylacoleos, no gallis or kangaroos, no megalanias, no terror bird - you name it. You can't find a single one of those creatures in Aberration, forcing the player to move around the map slowly. Gliding Suits and Climbing picks are only unlocked at a high player level, and the Ravager, a creature who can climb vines, can only have it saddle unlocked at Level 47.

Most special mobility creatures such as the Rock Drake cannot be obtained until an even higher level is reached.

This lack of mobility at an early level is especially painful as Aberration is full of interesting cliffs and bridges. You wanna explore it all - but you can't yet.


2. Difficulty of resources
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Sillica Pearls and iron are among the most valuable resources for an advanced player, but both of which are mysteriously missing in Aberration. You'll indeed be walking around attempting to search for metal and pearls - and indeed you will find it, but it'll be located in the more difficult parts of the map teeming with predators and natural hazards. As a result, planning a metal trip in Aberration must be very organized.


As a result, Aberration is one of the most thrillingly beautiful maps Wildcard has ever created - maybe even the most visually stunning of them all. The moment you spawn into this map, you will be awed by its colours and tone. Furthermore, this game really does seem to be more rewarding to higher level players, as well as offering the most challenging yet incredibly awesome tameable creatures. The Rock Drake is amongst ARK's best creatures, being a combination of high mobility and a tank in combat. Other creatures such as the Roll Rat and Basilisk have features no ARK creature had ever had in the past.

But of course, I simply can't end it here without warning you what glitches i've encountered:

- Digging into the ground with a Basilisk and resurfacing while under another dino will cause you to fall through the world

- Some cliff faces are concaved inwards like a small trap. Falling in will get you stuck - watch your step

- The Rock Drake will, very rarely, not glide properly

- Climbing Picks will sometimes not work even on perflect flat walls



Personal quote: Great map, but I still think Scorched Earth pulled it off better

Not only is it a stylistic game, but also a Boss Battler's dream come true.

There's nineteen bosses!!!